Opening with a ‘Prelude’ into ‘DeadlyNightshade’, there is an immediate sense of Americana hanging over Used Future. The album blends TheSword‘s hard rock heavy riffs with some seriously crunchy grooves, making for an enjoyable listening experience.

‘TheWildSky’ stands out amongst the record; there are no vocals to be heard here. Followed by ‘Intermezzo’, which as expected by the name of the track, acts as an intermission of sorts, before ‘Sea of Green’ kicks in, which ultimately sounds like something BlackSabbath may have whipped up as a b-side in the 70s, which isn’t a bad thing.

The rest of UsedFuture plays out as expected, but for every moment of fuzzy rock goodness, there are some surprises too. The Sword are renowned for making some seriously loud noise with their music, which is why it’s a delight thatUsed Future is balanced out by reflective instrumental moments. This works well in the bands’ favour, allowing them to deliver an album which stands out as a frontrunner for one of 2018’s best so far.